A/N: I don't own the characters. God help them if I did. I am however going to be making them dance (metaphorically) for my pleasure and yours. There will be some adult content later on ie. Sex and violence – you decide whether you want to read it. If you like Harry-centric fics this isn't one. I have no qualms about hating Harry. It's probably the way his character is written in the books. Enough of this I hear you say. Enjoy.
Hermione Granger crouched, huddled in a blanket between her parents who stared anxiously around the cavernous hall crammed with people.
"It's ok," reassuring her mother for the hundredth time she picked out the tens of families like her own, evacuated without warning on an anonymous tip-off. Most she knew, others were unfamiliar; however all like her had muggle parents or grandparents. Nervous glances were exchanged between fellow Hogwarts students. They had been told the were safe within the Ministry, however with the knowledge of the attack a few months past few felt safe; especially owing to the mysterious nature of the threat they had been informed of. The aurors themselves were twitchy – could it be genuine? With the possibility of a devastating genocide of muggle-born wizarding families no risks could be taken; action had been immediate. Ministry volunteers and aurors had been dispatched to every residence housing those under threat. Households had been shaken awake, ordered to leave for their own survival-gathering pets and bare essentials-and portkeyed out.
A mere fraction Hermione calculated, might be here in this conference chamber. She was numbed by the scale and brutal speed of the operation, so uncharacteristic of normal military proceedings. It meant they were scared-that something must have been imminent. A hand on her shoulder jolted her out of her reverie,
"Miss Granger?" Turning, she met the unfamiliar eyes of a very tired ministry witch. "You're wanted up top. Could you follow please?"
Hermione squeezed her parents' hands, clasped tight to hers, "I'll get them to bring you up, ok?" They nodded, faces worn with worry and exhaustion. She handed her mother Crookshanks to hold as a hairy, purring safety blanket. The big, bowlegged cat was only too happy to fill this role.
The ministry witch, Ismene Loftachs as her badge read, started off towards a small door on the far side of the hall weaving her way between the refugees, tripping over hastily gathered possessions, peoples limbs, the debris of displaced families. Passing through the door another sea of people stretched before them. Ismene bore diagonally left, Hermione following her stooped form. Everywhere children and adults cried or held back tears. Dogs could be heard barking above the noise and overhead owls hooted and swooped in confusion.
Her own included, Hermione passed through three full halls before they reached the final door. On entering she was buried beneath an avalanche of hugs. Aside from a few notable absences it seemed the whole Weasley family was determined to make sure she was alright by squeezing the life out of her.
"Ten minutes ago over 400 residences were targeted by dementors or deatheaters escaped from Azkaban. The tip off was genuine." Arthur Weasleys voice was heavy, "The attack was on such a huge scale that it couldn't be concealed from the muggles.."
"Are your parents alright, dear?" Mrs Weasley broke in, "Let's get them down here as soon as possible shall we?"
"Thanks, Mrs Weasley" The news shocked her, things were moving too quickly and inexorably slowly at the same time. The room was starting to swirl and she had to sit down hard on the floor, head in her hands to make it stop. "How's Harry?"
There was a long pause before Mr Weasley answered, "He'sâhe'll be alright, he's,"
Mrs Weasley interrupted again, "He blames himself-it seems the aim of the attack wasn't to hit Harry directly but to, well to provoke him, draw him out."
"You-know-who seems to want Harry to suffer, flares were left over the scenes of destruction saying, 'This is for you, Potter'."
Hermione found herself with Ron and Ginny on either side of her on the floor. Ron was white beneath his freckles, his eyes haunted. Ginny was devoid of expression.
"We weren't allowed to see him. He's with Dumbledore we reckon, and Lupin probably. It was bad enough when"
"Don't say it, Ron" Hermione's hand skimmed absently over her ribs, memories of
another night of violence and death surfacing that she would rather forget, rather not have to acknowledge that any of it had happened. "So it wasn't Snape? The tip-off I mean." It was a lame attempt to change the subject.
"No, I haven't seen him though. The Order are all here obviously and we've seen most of them." The room was almost silent apart from the frantic murmurings of news and messages coming in from outside as witches and wizards ran in and out.
"I reckon I know who it was." This was the first quietly spoken comment from Ginny. Both Ron and Hermione stared at her, incredulous,
"What the hell? Yeah right, Ginny." Ron's sister shot him a cold look,
"You're as blind as you are stupid." Getting to her feet, she stalked off, "I'll get your parents, Hermione."
"Um, thanks" Ginny's statement had started wheels turning madly in Hermione's mind. Ron glared after his sibling,
"Making stuff up again."
"How do you mean?"
Ron threw his hands up despairingly, "She just comes out with all this weird shit. Like after Sirius, you know? We were talking about it and I said something about Lupin and she completely bit my head off!"
"Get to the point, Ron."
He sighed and looked awkward, "She said they were" he made a face, "âlovers."
Hermione frowned, it was possible, "Why do you think it's made up? It could have been true-they were pretty close."
Ron shook his head, "Too damn weird."
Hermione was about to grill him about this interpretation when several people entered the room at once. Through the double doors at the back, which as of yet had remained closed, came a large proportion of Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix. Apparating with a crack from empty space, Severus Snape, who looked as if he'd just come from being on the receiving end of a severe beating. Limping over to Dumbledore, he muttered a few words in his ear. The venerable old wizard nodded gravely, placing a sympathetic shoulder on the potions master's shoulder and beckoning to Bill Weasley beside him to hand him a sheaf of parchment. Snape received the documents wearily, glancing over them and looking first to Dumbledore and then, to their surprise, to where Ron and Hermione now stood. The professor's face was inscrutable. Dumbledore indicated the doors through which he had just come and, accompanied by the majority of those within the room, Snape exited.
The antechamber was now virtually empty, save Hermione, Ron and Dumbledore. To one side Hermione could hear Mrs Weasley explaining something to her parents. She and Ron regarded Dumbledore like rabbits caught in headlights, both desperate to hear, and yet dreading what he had to say.
"I expect you would like to see Harry."
Their reply was hesitant at the sad tone of their Headmasters voice, "Yes."
Dumbledore smiled ruefully, "Mr Weasley, Miss Granger, may I make a very important request of you, please?" Ron gulped.
"I the light of recent events it has become clear that Voldemort's purpose is to attack Harry not directly but through a more psychologically damaging route. Do you understand what this means?" Hermione felt a cold shiver of realisation at the calm, measured words,
"Harry will need all the emotional support that his closest friends can provide-but that is only half of the matter. Harry will almost certainly reject your sympathy. I know Mr Lupin has found it very difficult even before today's events. Now; and here is where we come to the hardest part," the old wizard's face became unimaginably tired and heartsick,
"It pains me to have to ask you this, but the battle against Voldemort must be won, I am afraid to say, at any cost. Voldemort has already demonstrated his ability to manipulate Harry and I have no doubt that he will continue to use this power to full effect. No matter what Harry says or does, he needs your help. If he does anything that raises any doubt about his safety or stability you must tell someone. He has every right to feel the way he does but he cannot be allowed to compromise his own safety or anyone else's."
He sighed, "I understand that I am asking you to effectively spy on your friend, potentially betraying his confidence and trust, however knowing what has been allowed to happen in the past we can no longer afford to take risks. You will both be included in the Order in order to receive information and instruction and convey any information you obtain. It would be stating the obvious to tell you that the situation regarding Voldemort is now critical. Will you please promise your full cooperation in this matter?"
Hermione, who had been staring at the floor, her thoughts in turmoil, looked to Ron.
"I don't think we've got much choice, have we?" His voice was empty.
"I apologise for the pressure you must be under but we all have unpleasant business to be faced-none of us more so than Harry."
Hermione drew a deep breath, "We'll do what we can."
The eyes of the ancient wizard were sparkling, they realised, with tears as he shook their hands,
"I cannot express my thanks enough to you. Now, I think we'll have some chocolate to cheer ourselves up, we'll take some for Harry too. Did you know there's a new card being put in chocolate frogs?"